PITTSBURGH -- With the switchover to digital TV broadcasting less than 90 days away, lots of people are planning to purchase new sets over the holidays. That will mean a lot of old TVs heading for the trash, as lots of shiny new ones arrive in western Pennsylvania homes.
WTAE-TV Channel 4 Action News reporter Bob Mayo is asking questions about the impact of a growing TV wasteland.
Some estimate as many as 30 million old TV sets could be discarded this coming year because of the digital switchover. If you ditch yours, where does it go?
“There’s not a lot of information out there to tell you what to do with it, but I believe it went to the dump,” said Fox Chapel resident Kristen Leslie about her old TV.
Some TVs contain some very toxic materials and heavy metals, such as lead, chromium and mercury. In your system, they can cause brain damage and cancer.
When you throw your TVs out with the trash, they head to local landfills. That creates the potential for runoff, which could contaminate groundwater and soil.
“When you put out something like that, you’re almost dumping your own trash into your own back yard,” said Dave Mazza of the nonprofit Pa. Resources Council, or PRC.
The Allegheny County Health Department and the PRC have been staging hard-to-recycle drop off collections. State environmental officials encourage recycling the hazardous materials inside those TVs. But no law will stop them from heading for local landfills.
“Currently there is no ban on electronics or TVs to be placed in the trash,” said Michael Forbeck, regional program manager in the Waste Management Section of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Maybe your one TV isn’t likely to hurt anyone, but imagine the impact of thousands upon thousands heading for local landfills all at one time.
“In the collective sense, this has a major health effect on all of us, and we would like to see that not happen,” said Dr. Bruce Dixon, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.
Two leading local recyclers working with PRC, eLoop and A greenSpan, pack up old TVs and ship them off for proper recycling by certified processors. They accept old electronics for a fee in Turtle Creek and at Construction Junction in Point Breeze.
Some manufacturers and retailers like Best Buy are now helping consumers buying new electronics deal with the old.
“When we do deliver the new digital TV, we can pick up and haul away the old one… and we actually send it to a recycling plant,” said Dan Murphy, a Best Buy Geek Squad installer.
When you do go digital, you don’t have to get rid of your old analog TV. You can keep using them with cable, DVDs and games. Government-subsidized converter boxes are available.
If you do ditch it, you should know there is a shadowy trade in old TVs and other e-waste. According to the Basal Action Network, some companies skirt government rules and export the dangers to the poor, shipping toxic electronic trash to places like China and Africa. Old electronics are stripped for reusable metals, and then the dangerous materials are dumped.
The profit made in extracting metals comes at the expense of the health and environment in other lands. In China, kids in some rural areas have lead in their blood that is double the level of what's considered acceptable in the U.S.
Local recyclers eLoop and A greenSpan have signed on to the Basal Action Network’s e-Steward program. Participants can document the chain of custody and proper recycling of the materials they take in -- for a fee.
“The choice is, are you going to export it overseas, or are you going to do the right thing and make sure you turn it back into commodity grade materials,” said Ned Eldridge, eLoop president.
Eldridge argues that it’s important to question recyclers about exactly where your old TV will end up. He urges asking if they are Basal Network Certified.
“That will assure that material does not end up in a landfill or get exported to Third World countries,” he said.
Related LinkseLoopA greenSpane-StewardsPennsylvania Resources CouncilConstruction JunctionAllegheny County Health DepartmentPennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection - Where to RecycleBest Buy's recycling programWaste Management Copyright 2009 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
